Portable cold beer dispenser



Feb. 13, 1951 c. o. MARX PORTABLE coLD BEER DISPENSER 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Jan. 24, 1948 Snoentor CHARLES O. MARX Feb. 13, 1951 c. o. MARX PORTABLE COLD BEER DISPENSER 2 Sheets-$heet 2 Filed Jan. 24, 1948 Snoentor CHARLES O. MARX Patented Feb. 13, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PORTABLE COLD BEER'DISPENSER Charles O. Marx, Brooklyn, N. Y. Application January 24, 1948, Serial No. 4,096

2 Claims. l

This invention relates to a portable Cold beer dispenser adapted to be extended through a bung hole in a beer barrel and to be supported by the barrel while dispensing the beer. Y

It is an object of the present invention to provide a portable cold beer dispenser which has a minimum number of parts and in which the air passage is extended through the upright piece which is connected to the container for the ice and wherein this piece is of integral formation and adapted to serve as the main support for the container when the integral piece is extended into the beer barrel.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a portable cold beer dispenser which is of simple construction, easy to assemble, easy to install upon a barrel, inexpensive to manufacture and efficient in operation.

More particularly this invention relates to improvements upon the portable cold beer cooler shown in my Patent 2,040,664, issued May 12, 1936, wherein there are multiple parts which connect the container with the barrel, all of which parts must be kept in repair and which render the dispenser more flimsy than if a single integral part is used. According to the present invention, the

container has an opening in its bottom with sleeve projections extending both inwardly and downwardly and into which pipe elements are tted. From the top sleeve portion there is tightly fitted a pipe forming the end of a continuous coil of pipe which is located in the container and which is cooled by ice within the container. The :beer is extended through this coil and passed through an outlet which may be controlled by a spigot.

To the lower sleeve portion there is connected an integral sleeve member which serves as the air duct for air which is extendedvdown into the barrel upon the actuation ofa pump contained within the container. AS the pump is manipulated, air will be extended downwardly into the barrel along the inner wall of the sleeve. The lower end of the sleeve has a tapered formation adapted to i-lt the bung hole of a barrel. This sleeve is of sturdy construction and amply able to support the container when the sleeve has been fixed into the barrel. Extending upwardly through the integral sleeve is a draft tube having holes in its bottom end adapted to contact with the beer in the barrel. AS air pressure is applied to the top of the barrel, beer will flow upwardly through the draft tube and be conducted to the coil of pipes Within the container. The draft tube has a. flared upper end and is connected with a flared end of the coil pipe by the same screw which attaches the coil pipe to the inwardly extending sleeve portion of the container.

For further comprehension of the invention, and of the objects and advantages thereof, reference will be had to the following description and accompanying drawing, and to the appended claims in which the various novel features of the invention are more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawing forming a material part of this disclosure- Fig. l is a side elevational View of the dispenser embodying part of the features of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the dispenser.

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view, in elevation, taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows thereof, showing the beer barrel draft tube in position.

Fig. 4 is a transverse cross sectional View taken on line 4-11 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a detail elevational view of the comhined air duct and plug formations.

Fig. 6 is a top plan View of the hand coupling.

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the snap ring which retains the hand coupling on the air duct.

Fig. 8 is an elevational view of the draft tube or duct through which the beer is conducted upwardly.

Fig. 9 is a transverse cross sectional View taken on line 9 9 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 10 is a side elevational View showing the coupling and air duct sleeve attached to a beer barrel. n

Referring now to the figures, I5 represents a container in which there are coils I6 of pipe through which beer is conducted. Within the container there is disposed ice or another coole ing agency to cool the beer within the coils of pipe. Extending upwardly from the bottom of the container is a sleeve portion Il having an inwardly extending flange or shoulder i8 and internal threads I9. Extending downwardly through this sleeve portion l1 and through the bottom of the container is a draft tube 2| adapted to extend into the beer barrel B, The bottom end of this draft tube has holes 22 through which the beer passes and by means of this tube 2| the beer is conducted upwardly and delivered to one end of the coils of the pipe I6. This end of the pipe'is shown at 23 and is connected to an operating valve 24. The bottom of this valve is connected twith the upper end of the tube 2l. The tube 2l extends through the flange or shoul- 3 der I8 of the sleeve portion I1. Above the shoulder I8 is a rubber packing 28 and as the screw 21 is tightened, the rubber packing will be cornpressed and will expand inwardly toward the center and will grip the draft tube 2 l. A iiuid tight joint is accordingly effected.

Depending from the bottom of the container is a threaded sleeve 3| which is an integral part of the sleeve portion i1. These portions provide a unit which is fixed to the bottom of the container and secured thereto by an internally threaded plate 32 fitted over the threaded portion 3|. Extending upwardly into the sleeve portions, is an air duct member 33 having an annular tapered formation 33a and below this formation are two integral key projections 331 adapted to engage corresponding key-ways 34 formed in the coupling 34a. The air duct sleeve 33' accordingly serves as the sole support for the dispenser when the same is installed upon the beer barrel. The sleeve 33' extends over the draft tube 2i and there is sufficient annular space between the draft tube surface and the inner wall of the sleeve 33 toVv permit the passage of air downwardly through the air duct 33 whereby to put the beer within the barrel under pressure.

Extending radially from the inner sleeve prtion Il, there is a supporting arm 35 having an upstanding sleeve portion 36 into which the bottom end 31 of an air pump 38 is fitted and retained. The air pump 38 extends upwardly through a top cover 39. and comprises a plunger 4l and' an outer cylinder 42. Air holes 39a are provided in the cover 39; On the upper end of a plunger rod 43 is a ball handle 44 by which the pump is manipulated. A cover 45 is extended over the top of the cylinder 42Y and the plunger rod 43l is slidable therethrough. Air is forced into an air passage 46 in the supporting arm 35 and is received in a groove A? in the air duct sleeve 33. Communicating from this groove il are a plurality of radially inwardly extending holes' 48 which conduct the air to the interior of the air duct sleeve 33. The air will thereafter pass downward-ly and will be emitted as indicated at 49 from the lower end of the air duct sleeve 33.

A packing 52 is retained in the internally threaded sleeve 3i' by a sleeve nut 53 which is screw threaded in the depending sleeve portion 3|. At the bottom of coupling Sila is a ring 54 of soft material to make an air tight connection of the coupling 3da with the bung hole.

At the top of the tapered portion 33a on the air duct sleeve is a shoulder S-which supports a'hand coupling 51 having arms 58 which can be grasped to effect the insertion of the tapered portion 33a into the bung hole'of the beer barrel. This hand coupling is secured upon the air duct sleeve 33 by a snap ring 59, Fig. 7. A groove B3 holds the top ring in place upon the air duct sleeve against axial displacement therealong.

The outlet end of the pipe i5 is connected by 4 a fitting 6I and locked by a coupling ring 62 with a threaded pipe portion 63 extending through the wall of the container and forming a partI of a spigot 64. Two flanged plates 65 and 66 retain the portion 63 on the wall of the container against axial displacement therethrough.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that I do notl limit myself to the precise constructions herein disclosed and the right is reserved to all changes and modifications coming within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

1. A portable cold beer dispenser comprising, a container, a fitting secured in the container bottom and provided with an integral sleeve extending upwardly therefrom into said container, an internal shoulder formed in said fitting sleeve intermediate the length thereof, an air duct sleeve extending from below said container upwardly into said fitting sleeve to abut the internal shoulder therein, a pipe coil within said container adapted tov be cooled by a refrigerant placed in said container, a valved outlet on one end of said pipe coi-l disposed externally of the container, a draft tube extending from below said air duct sleeve upwardly therethrough to project above said fitting sleeve, a packing gland in the upper end of the fitting sleeve about said draft tube maintaining it in concentric spaced relationship with the air duct sleeve, a valved connection between the upper end of said draft tube and the second inlet end of said pipe coil, an air pump, means for delivering air from said pump to said air duct sleeve adjacent the upper end thereof, and means carried by the air duct sleeve for coupling said sleeve and said draft tube in the bung of a barrel.

2. A structure as defined in claim l wherein said air pump is vertically secured within and eccentrically of the container, and said air delivery means includes a radial extension formed integrally of said fitting which connects with the discharge end of said pump and is provided with an air passage' in communication between said pump and the air duct sleeve.

CHARLES O. MARX.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

